Column: Losing Miami is good for Big East

MATT HAYESThe Sporting News

Published Thursday, June 10, 2004

The boys at the Big East don't know how good they've got it. The departure of Miami will be the best thing that ever happened to the league. And to think that frivolous lawsuit against the ACC still is out there, churning along, clogging the system in search of -- what else? -- money to make the hurt go away.

The big hurt, fellas, left in January.

In the 13 years Miami was in the Big East, there were only short stretches when the big, bad Canes weren't the only ones who mattered in the conference. That's when when Miami was on probation or when the most dynamic college player of our time -- some dude named Vick -- played a couple of years at Virginia Tech before moving to the NFL. Other than that, the annual Big East race was about as compelling as croquet.

When the ACC raided the Big East last year, Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese dramatically deemed it "the most disastrous blow to intercollegiate athletics in my lifetime." Meanwhile, back in reality, this is what the Big East lost: television markets. And that's it.

The new Big East doesn't have kingpin Miami to hide from. The new Big East still has its automatic BCS bid. The new Big East isn't pressing its face against the BCS window, begging for scraps and desperately following reform gadfly Scott Cowan. The Big East lost the nation's best program, the nation's most overrated program (Virginia Tech) and the Boston television market. Hardly disastrous.

Connecticut, Rutgers, Pittsburgh and West Virginia have a lawsuit claiming Miami and Boston College conspired to weaken the Big East by leaving for the ACC. Programs aren't weakened by other programs; they're strengthened by winning. Should West Virginia have one of those magical seasons, go unbeaten and play in the BCS title game -- don't laugh, it might happen this fall -- that will do more for the health of a program and the league than the Big East bully staying around. Should UConn win two of the next three Big East championships, those two BCS appearances will help the Huskies hop in the passing lane with Pittsburgh and roll right past Penn State in the Northeast recruiting wars.

The Big East is where the ACC was before Florida State joined in 1992:

It's one of the nation's best basketball conferences and the worst major football conference. So what? Two years before FSU joined the ACC, Georgia Tech won a share of the national title.

It's not good for the collective ego, but the quality-of-life index in the Big East rose when the Canes left town. The league never was going to get two teams in the BCS, anyway, and it won't lose any of its bowl tie-ins. The only uncertainty is the value of television contracts; ESPN is trying to restructure its remaining four years with the Big East because of the shakeup.

But winning eventually will cure those ills, too. And if it doesn't, you better believe the BCS honchos won't leave their brethren hooked to life support. The BCS administrators easily could have taken away the Big East's automatic bid but decided against it. At some point, if the Big East is failing, those same men who control college football might take drastic measures and give Notre Dame an ultimatum. The Irish are part of the party because BCS administrators allow it.

With Notre Dame interest at an all-time low -- don't be surprised if NBC tries to renegotiate its contract with the school next year after another subpar Irish season -- what better way to re-energize a program and a league than a marriage of convenience?

Losing Miami is the best thing that ever happened to the Big East. It's just going to take time and vision to see it through.

Distributed by the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service

TEXT:The boys at the Big East don't know how good they've got it. The departure of Miami will be the best thing that ever happened to the league. And to think that frivolous lawsuit against the ACC still is out there, churning along, clogging the system in search of -- what else? -- money to make the hurt go away.

The big hurt, fellas, left in January.

In the 13 years Miami was in the Big East, there were only short stretches when the big, bad Canes weren't the only ones who mattered in the conference. That's when Miami was on probation or when the most dynamic college player of our time -- some dude named Vick -- played a couple of years at Virginia Tech before moving to the NFL. Other than that, the annual Big East race was about as compelling as croquet.

When the ACC raided the Big East last year, Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese dramatically deemed it "the most disastrous blow to intercollegiate athletics in my lifetime." Meanwhile, back in reality, this is what the Big East lost: television markets. And that's it.

The new Big East doesn't have kingpin Miami to hide from. The new Big East still has its automatic BCS bid. The new Big East isn't pressing its face against the BCS window, begging for scraps and desperately following reform gadfly Scott Cowan. The Big East lost the nation's best program, the nation's most overrated program (Virginia Tech) and the Boston television market. Hardly disastrous.

Connecticut, Rutgers, Pittsburgh and West Virginia have a lawsuit claiming Miami and Boston College conspired to weaken the Big East by leaving for the ACC. Programs aren't weakened by other programs; they're strengthened by winning. Should West Virginia have one of those magical seasons, go unbeaten and play in the BCS title game -- don't laugh, it might happen this fall -- that will do more for the health of a program and the league than the Big East bully staying around. Should UConn win two of the next three Big East championships, those two BCS appearances will help the Huskies hop in the passing lane with Pittsburgh and roll right past Penn State in the Northeast recruiting wars.

The Big East is where the ACC was before Florida State joined in 1992:

It's one of the nation's best basketball conferences and the worst major football conference. So what? Two years before FSU joined the ACC, Georgia Tech won a share of the national title.

It's not good for the collective ego, but the quality-of-life index in the Big East rose when the Canes left town. The league never was going to get two teams in the BCS, anyway, and it won't lose any of its bowl tie-ins. The only uncertainty is the value of television contracts; ESPN is trying to restructure its remaining four years with the Big East because of the shakeup.

But winning eventually will cure those ills, too. And if it doesn't, you better believe the BCS honchos won't leave their brethren hooked to life support. The BCS administrators easily could have taken away the Big East's automatic bid but decided against it. At some point, if the Big East is failing, those same men who control college football might take drastic measures and give Notre Dame an ultimatum. The Irish are part of the party because BCS administrators allow it.

With Notre Dame interest at an all-time low -- don't be surprised if NBC tries to renegotiate its contract with the school next year after another subpar Irish season -- what better way to re-energize a program and a league than a marriage of convenience?

Losing Miami is the best thing that ever happened to the Big East. It's just going to take time and vision to see it through.